Dubai: A Dubai organisation has sent its volunteers to flood-ravaged Kerala to help rehabilitate the homeless and provide them with basic supplies.
The Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), a global organisation of Muslims from the Indian state of Kerala with wing organisations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is coming to the aid of flood victims in the Indian state.
KMCC has a presence of 90,000 members in UAE – all of whom are expats working here. Dubai alone has 40,000 members.
In an interview with Gulf News, Mustafa Vengara, general secretary, KMCC Dubai said the organisation - consisting of members who are UAE expats - has sent several volunteers to Wayanad, Mallapuram, Calicut and Kannur where the maximum deluge has occurred.
"They are working closely with a local voluntary group White Guard to help flood victims," said Vengara.
Vengara said KMCC volunteers in the UAE have collected donations to provide food and cleaning supplies to flood victims.
Mustafa Vengara, general secretary, KMCC Dubai
“We are currently preparing 5,000 kits of dry food items and cleaning supplies. After gauging the demand, we will arrange for more packages to be readied and handed out to the flood victims,” he added.
“Our volunteers in Kerala are purchasing essential items like sugar, coffee, tea, rice for victims. We are also there to help victims’ whose homes have been damaged in the flood fury,” said Vengara.
Last year, when Kerala was affected by severe floods, KMCC volunteers in the UAE had arranged for and sent 40 tonnes of non-food items.
KMCC Dubai president Ibrahim Eletil is onsite meeting with relevant authorities to see what can be done to help in the situation. He is closely working with volunteers to rehabilitate the homeless and co-ordinate relief efforts.
Kerala flood update
In his latest tweet, the chief minister of Kerala posted that as many as 76 lives have been lost with 58 people still missing. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan posted from his twitter handle @CMOKerala that there are 1,654 flood relief camps spread out in the state of Kerala. The camps are housing 287,585 people from 83,274 families. As of Monday morning the tally also read that a total of 2,966 homes were damaged in the state following the flood fury. More than 280 homes were also partially damaged as a result of the vast devastation due to floods.
Hundreds of people are said to be still stranded at Attapadi in Palakkad District.
On Sunday, Vadakara in Kozhikode district recorded 21 cm of rainfall, the highest in the state as of 8.30am Sunday, followed by Kodungallur in Thrissur (19.9) and Perinthalmanna in Malappuram (13.8), The state government said that the water level in the major dams was not a cause of worry as of now. The Idukki Dam, one of the biggest in the state, presently has only 36.61% of its capacity.
Weather predictions
Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan said weather forecasts predict heavy rains to persist over the next two days in Kerala.
“We need to remain vigilant,” he said.
